1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to food cutters and food servers which are highly stable during both cutting and serving operations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a slice of food such as a slice of cake is defined by at least two cuts made by a knife on opposite sides thereof. A spatula, cake server or other similar instrument is then placed under the slice to remove and serve the slice. This, however, results in a relatively complicated operation for serving each slice. In addition, the slices are not always served as whole pieces. That is, they often fall apart after cutting but prior to placement on a plate.
Cake cutting and serving devices which are able to concurrently cut both sides of a slice and then engage the cut slice for removal are known from, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,264,486 (Smith et al), U.S. Pat. No. 2,600,646 (Haugland), U.S. Pat. No. 2,770,035 (O""Brien), U.S. Pat. No. 2,841,868 (O""Brien) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,138 (Piche), and U.S. Des. Pat. No. 248,271 (McGee, III).
U.S. Pat. No. 2,264,486 (Smith et al) discloses handles that are offset at an angle from the cutting blades. Therefore, the cutting blades can only cut a large triangular sector whose dimensions can not be altered. This is very limiting, particularly in view of the many different sizes and shapes of cakes to be cut.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,600,646 to Haugland discloses curved handles that do not extend in the same plane as the blades. In such arrangement, to form a substantially triangular piece of cake, which is the conventional shape of a piece of cake, the handles are not in contact with each other, thereby making secure gripping of the device more difficult. Although the handles can be pressed further toward each other so that the handles are in contact with each other, there is contact of the handles only at the front ends thereof, and also, such secure contact of the handles occurs only when cutting a thin rectangular piece, not a triangular piece.
The remaining above-identified patents provide more complicated and/or less versatile cake cutters and servers.
Other related cake cutters are disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 1,104,718 (Trevisan), U.S. Pat. No. 2,403,190 (Parraga), U.S. Pat. No. 3,045,347 (Elias et al) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,159 (Fuenzalida). While, these cake cutters cut cake, they do not remove and serve the slices.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a combination cutter and server which overcomes the aforementioned problems.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a combination cutter and server that can cut, for example a cake, into a plurality of slices and remove each slice for serving immediately after the slice has been cut.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a combination cutter and server in which the shape of the slice that is cut can be altered by compressing the cutter and server handles toward each other in varying amounts.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a combination cutter and server in which the handles of the device are in contact with each other in a stable condition in at least two different conditions for cutting and serving two different shaped slices of food.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a combination cutter and server that is easy and economical to use and manufacture.
According to the present invention, a combination cutter and server, includes a first thin flexible blade having front and rear opposite ends; a second thin flexible blade having front and rear opposite ends; a connecting section which couples the front end of the first thin blade and the front end of the second thin blade; a first handle connected to the rear end of the first thin blade; and a second handle connected to the rear end of the second thin blade and being unconnected with the first handle. The first handle is coplanar with the first thin blade in an unbiased condition of the combination cutter and server, and the second handle is coplanar with the second thin blade in an unbiased condition of the combination cutter and server. Only rear ends of the first and second handles are in contact with one another to form the combination cutter and server into a first geometric cutting configuration when the first and second handles are initially moved toward each other to an initial biased position. Further, the first and second handles are in contact with other along substantially entire lengths thereof to form the combination cutter and server into a second geometric cutting configuration, which is different from the first geometric cutting configuration, when the first and second handles are further moved toward each other from the initial biased position.
In one embodiment, the blades are formed by a thin, flat and flexible sheet of metal which is bent at a center section thereof so as to form the two blades which diverge away from each other at a slightly rounded nose section. Upper edges of the blades, beginning from the nose section to an approximate mid-point of each blade, are cut away to form an upwardly curved upper edge portion. Each blade has a generally rectangular shape, and a straight, non-serrated bottom edge. Preferably, the diverging angle is approximately 20 degrees. Preferably, the first geometric cutting configuration is a substantially triangular shape and the second geometric cutting configuration is a substantially rectangular shape.
In a second embodiment, the blades are formed by a thin, flat and flexible sheet of metal which is bent into a U-shape having the first and second blades substantially parallel and spaced apart from each other in an unbiased condition of the combination cutter and server, and a center connecting blade which connects opposite ends of the first and second blades together and is oriented substantially perpendicular to the first and second blades. Again, each blade has a generally rectangular shape. Upper edges of the first and second blades, beginning at an attachment to the center connecting blade, to a point of each first and second blade which is approximately one-third of the length thereof, are cut away to form an upwardly curved upper edge portion. Preferably, the first geometric cutting configuration is a substantially trapezoidal shape and the second geometric cutting configuration is a substantially reverse triangular shape.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description thereof which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.